City of Heroes, Issue 5- The Forest of Dread

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We get a look at next week's big update to the super powered MMO.

By Dan Adams

As any former or continuing players are probably aware, developer Cryptic Studios is serious about continuing to push big updates through into City of Heroes as long as the game has legs. So far, it's legs look to be running strong so it's no real surprise that another update will be hitting the game soon&#Array; as in "next week" soon. We had a chance to check out The Forest of Dread update recently in order to get a look at the new zone, powers sets, villains, and more.

It seems that all big updates come with at least one new zone, as is the case with The Forest of Dread. Croatoa is a level 25-35 zone based on real world mythology. It's a mysterious region often linked to powerful magical forces and deadly creatures. I suppose it's no real surprise that the new villain types in the area should be based around magic and fairie. Both new villain types, The Cabal of Witches and Red Caps, are everywhere inside the Coatoa area causing trouble.

The cool thing about them is that they actually aren't exactly friendly with each other either. In fact, one could say that they have a strong distaste called hate for each other. One of the new things for City of Heroes is this faction system for NPCs. Different groups of NPCs now have faction with each other meaning that instead of just seeing those mock fights between a couple of villain groups, you'll see them wailing on and killing each other with regularity. Croatoa will be house to plenty of infighting that heroes can avoid or pop in on should they choose. Sometimes it's probably best to sit back and enjoy the action long enough to be able to sweep in and clear out and area to proceed farther with a quest.

Both the Cabal of Witches and Red Caps are integral to the story arc inside the new zone. Obviously, Cryptic doesn't want to ruin the fun, but anyone entering the area will soon find that there's more to the Cabal than most people think. Each of the sides also has their own range of attacks and abilities. Most of the witches show were throwing a lot of lightning type spells around while the Red Caps have the new bow powers as well as some magic and melee abilities. In fact, the Red Caps actually have a couple of nifty maneuvers all to themselves that players are sure to enjoy the first time they see them.

One of the more spectacular parts of the demo showed off a couple of the mega monsters in the area: one for each of the new villain factions. They're actually easy to pick out in the video included today with this preview as they're the huge Jack-o'-lantern and giant dude carrying the rotting head that barfs. Battling these titanic wonders by yourself probably isn't the smartest idea. We had the luxury of observing one bravely stupid soul battling the titans on his own and the fight didn't go his way&#Array;.

Also found in the zone are a university, a lake where people can get a glimpse of the CoH version of Nessie (which will grant those that see it several times a new badge), and a tribute to War Witch, one of the fallen heroes of Paragon City.

Aside from the new zone, The Forest of Dread also introduces new power sets for those hoping for new weapons against evil. They're Archery (Defenders and Blasters), Trick Arrows (Defenders and Controllers), Sonic Blast (Blasters and Defenders), and Sonic Debuff (Defenders and Controllers). The archery sets obviously mean your character will break out a bow and arrows much like melee fighters do for swords and axes. There are some really neat looking tricks for these new powers and players will undoubtedly have fun checking out how different they make the content. For a full list of the powers and their descriptions, check out the City of Heroes official website.

Look for that update to hit the game next week! In the meantime, remember to check out the video showing off the new powers and enemies of The Forest of Dread.